Artistic Director: Meryane Martin Murphy
Mrs. Murphy began dancing at an early age in Nashville, Tennessee with Joy Zibart, an early member of Martha Graham’s company. At age eight she began her ballet training with Albertine Maxwell. She performed as an artist member of the Nashville Ballet across Tennessee and at SERBA Festivals throughout the Southeast. As a young dancer, she spent her summers at training programs in Bar Harbor, Maine, the Banff Centre in Canada, Ballet West in Aspen, Colorado, Joffrey’s American Ballet Center in New York, and San Francisco Ballet in California. In addition to ballet, she has had intensive study in modern, jazz, Spanish, and Hindu techniques. Among her teachers were Mme. Hilda Butsova, George Zoritch, Mme. Felia Doubrouvska, Vera Volkova, Robert Joffrey & Arnold Spohr. Ms. Murphy holds a B.A. in Dance from Birmingham-Southern College where she studied with Mira Popovich and continued her education with extensive graduate work in dance at N.Y.U. She has directed the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers, served on the Alabama Dance Council, danced with the Pensacola Symphony, and has been a guest teacher and speaker for many schools and civic organizations in Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. Since moving to Andalusia in 1979, she has operated the Academy at Andalusia Ballet and served as artistic director of the Andalusia Ballet. She attends many seminars studying the various methods of ballet training, dance therapy, and injury preventions. In 2002 Ms. Murphy was awarded the Andalusia Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her many contributions to the arts in our community.
Teacher: Callie E. Hatchett
Mrs. Hatchett, received her early training in classical ballet from Meryane Martin Murphy, director of Andalusia Ballet. She holds a BA in Dance from the University of Alabama where she performed with the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre as well as the choreography group Dance Alabama. After graduating, Ms. Hatchett danced with Southern DanceWorks in Birmingham and taught ballet, modern and jazz in Tuscaloosa. Through state funded grant projects to expose under-served communities to the arts, she has taught dance and creative movement in numerous elementary schools. Ms Hatchett completed her Master of Arts in eighteenth century British Literature through Florida State University. She moved back to Andalusia to join Andalusia Ballet where she has been teaching ballet, jazz and creative movement and assisting with rehearsals. In September 2010 she moved to New York for further study of dance. We hope to see her return once her studies are completed.
Teacher: Laura Wells
Mrs. Wells, a former student of Meryane Martin Murphy, grew up dancing with Andalusia Ballet. She attended the University of Alabama on a dance scholarship from the Department of Theatre and Dance. Mrs. Wells has a BA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a BS in Business Management. While at the University of Alabama she was a Scholarship Counselor with the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive. Additionally, Mrs. Wells has been a Board Member of the Alabama Dance Council for the past four years. She is a winner of the American College Dance Festival and performed in the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games. Mrs. Wells is so excited to be working with Andalusia Ballet.
Teacher: Shelly Wagoner
Mrs. Wagoner has joined us from Camp LeJune, NC. Originally from the Orlando area, she has danced since age 3 and competed all over the United States. Joe Tremaine, Doug Caldwell, Wade Robson, Shane Sparks and Paula Abdul are some of the many well known instructors she has trained under. We are so happy to have Shelly, her husband Eric and her children Cody, KayLynn, and Kenzie in Andalusia!
Teacher: Suzanna Stokes
Suzanna Stokes, teacher, a former student of Mrs. Murphy’s, danced with Andalusia Ballet from the tender age of 3 until she graduated. She holds a B.A. in Visual Arts with a Dance emphasis from Northwest Florida State College.
Teacher: Joseph Alexander Villalobos
As a native Texan, Joseph began his training in Dallas, Texas following a stint in competitive martial arts. He supplemented his training with time spent at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the International Ballet Competitors Training Program. The latter earned him the honor to represent the United States at the 4th International Ballet and Modern Competition in Nagoya, Japan.
Joseph’s professional career has taken him all over the country. He has danced for Ballet Arkansas, Northern Plains Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Inland Pacific Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Kentucky Ballet Theatre and most recently, Montgomery Ballet. Joseph has originated a number of featured roles, from ballets such as Gloria (Lazar), Dracula (Fernandez), Clair de Lune (Hathaway), Celebration Song (Richards), Coquetear y Atormentar (Richards) and Carmen (Risco). Not one to forget the classics, Joseph has also enjoyed performing soloist and principal roles in Raymonda (Petipa), The Nutcracker (Ivanov), Swan Lake (Petipa), Cinderella (Petipa), Le Papillon (Taglioni), Napoli (Bornonville), Le Corsaire (Petipa), Don Quixote (Petipa), Les Sylphides (Fokine) and Spring Waters (Messerer). Joseph has also been seen as a principal guest artist with Channel Islands Ballet, Collin County Ballet Theatre as well as the Dallas Opera, and was invited to perform in China with gold-medal winning choreographer Victor Temple.
With talent in music and acting, Joseph also has an extensive repertoire in musical theatre. He has performed in productions of The King and I, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Aesop’s Follies and A Christmas Carol.
A teacher as well as a dancer, Joseph has been able to enrich many students’ lives. He has taught for company-affiliated schools, such as Northern Plains Ballet, Inland Pacific Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Maryland and Montgomery Ballet, as well as schools highly regarded on the competition circuit, like Victory School of the Arts, Jane’s School of Dance, the Fara Fox Tyree School of Dance and the Hathaway Academy of Ballet. Some of his students have received scholarships for study with the Harid Conservatory, Houston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C. Others have also enjoyed scholarships to universities with lauded dance programs such as the University of Oklahoma, Butler University, Point Park Conservatory and the University of Utah, while still others have gone on to dance professionally with nationally recognized companies, such as Sarasota Ballet, Ballet West, and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Students in the college setting have also been able to benefit from Joseph’s instruction- he has been guest faculty at the Community College of Baltimore County, where he was also able to choreograph for the student company.
Joseph and his wife Laura welcomed their first child, Lydianna Camille, in May of 2011. The three of them look forward to being part of the Andalusia Ballet.
Teacher: Laura de Guia Villalobos
Laura hails from Los Angeles, California. She received her training from Louise Mandel at the Performing Arts Center. In her time there, she trained in several different disciplines, earning scholarships for various summer study programs. She also was a finalist in the Los Angeles County Music Center Spotlight Awards, one of 12 chosen from across the greater Los Angeles area. Further training was received while a part of the International Ballet Competitors Training Program. It was at that time that Laura was invited to represent the United States at the 4th International Ballet and Modern Competition in Nagoya, Japan, along with her partner Joseph Villalobos. Laura has been seen with companies across the country: Nevada Ballet Theatre, Northern Plains Ballet, Inland Pacific Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma, Kentucky Ballet Theatre and Montgomery Ballet. She has also been a principal guest artist with Collin County Ballet Theatre and the Dallas Opera. In her career, Laura has enjoyed performing featured roles in ballets such as Rodeo (de Mille), Who Cares? (Balanchine), Serenade (Balanchine), Table Manners (Anastos), Cinderella (Stevenson), The Nutcracker (Ivanov), Le Corsaire (Petipa), Gloria (Anastos), Spring Waters (Messerer), Raymonda (Petipa), The Prodigal Son (Pitts), Coppelia (St. Leon) and The Firebird (Pitts). She is also fortunate to have originated prominent roles in Dracula (Fernandez), Claire de Lune (Hathaway), Coquetear y Atormentar (Richards), Gloria (Lazar), Ascending (Lazar), Rendezvous (Lazar) and Carmen (Risco).
Teaching is a passion for Laura as well; she is honored to have been able to touch so many students’ lives. Students of hers have gone on to dance professionally, as well earn scholarships to universities with renowned dance programs. Many have received scholarships for summer studies to prestigious programs such as the Kirov Academy, Houston Ballet, the Harid Conservatory and American Ballet Theatre. Still, others have received top honors at competitions, even appearing on the covers of trade publications.
In addition to their own professional accomplishments, Laura and her husband Joseph strive to mentor up and coming dancers. It is her privilege to be a part of Andalusia Ballet and she is eager to continue inspiring young dancers and sharing her knowledge.